LogMeIn Free
Timbuktu & Skype
Reboot, I Command Thee
Written
By: Adam Rosen
This article was published in the Adam's
Apple column on Low End
Mac
Part
1 of this article covered general considerations and Apple-supported
methods available for remote system control that will generally work
on any version of Mac OS X (Jaguar, Panther, Tiger and Leopard). Part
2 (this page) addresses some commercial solutions that also
support multiple OS versions, along with how to force-reboot a remote
Mac. Part 3
will focus on new options provided by Mac OS X 10.5 Leopard.
LogMeIn Free
PC users have long enjoyed a variety of web-based services
(free and paid) to control their desktops from afar, including the popular
GoToMyPC service (a product of Citrix, the corporate remote PC giant).
Fortunately some services are now Mac friendly: LogMeIn provides web-based
remote control for PCs and Macs, without needing to know the IP address
of either machine or do any special firewall configurations.
LogMeIn
Free (the only Mac service at the moment) supports screen
sharing between Macs or cross platform. Mac OS X 10.4 Tiger or newer
is required on local and remote systems, and remote file transfers or
system updates are not currently supported. Setup an account (with a
strong password) on the LogMeIn website, then download the LogMeIn software.
A menu icon (series of dots in an arc near the clock) appears on the
Mac to be controlled, and the shared (remote) system shows up in your
list of available computers online.
When away, access your remote computer using a web
browser. Safari and Firefox are both supported on the Mac and work equally
well in my experience. The first time you try to control a remote system
from your local Mac, you will be asked to install the LogMeIn web plug-in
and restart your browser. After install go back to LogMeIn and click
on the computer to be controlled.
A blue screen with a remote login dialog appears -
enter the account name and password of the remote Mac here. You will
finally be at the remote Mac's control screen. Before clicking Remote
Control on your Mac, I have found it best to first click Preferences
--> Remote Control
Settings and set the control method to use Java instead of ActiveX.
In my experience LogMeIn has been speedy and reliable,
with screen size scaling and no need to know the IP addresses of your
local or remote computers. As of this writing (Jan 2008) file transfers
and remote updates are not yet supported, but the company has indicated
they are working on these options. In the meantime, as with VNC, you
can use a shared disk or server accessible over the internet or your
local network to transfer data between the two computers.
The combination of VNC and LogMeIn currently provide
my primary and secondary methods of remote control on many systems.
Timbuktu & Skype
Timbuktu
is the granddaddy of Mac remote desktop solutions, going back to the
days of dialup modems. Remarkably this cross-platform software is still
around and compatible up through Mac OS X Leopard. It's a mature product,
currently owned by Motorola, with a clean interface and the ability
to control Macs or PCs from Macs or PCs. Like ARD, this makes it both
a good single user or network administration tool.
Timbuktu
costs about $100 per computer, and separate copies are required on the
local and remote systems (it checks serial numbers across the network).
Remote screen sharing (with size scaling), file transfers & updates
are supported. On a local network or with an internet connection with
a fixed IP address, Timbuktu really shines. It also still supports dialup
modems, as a fallback when access is critical and speed a secondary
(if desired) consideration.
Timbuktu
uses TCP port 407 for communication, and (as with ARD and VNC) requires
a static IP address and port forwarding through routers and firewalls.
Access across VPNs is supported. If you don't know the IP address of
the remote computer, or can't perform local firewall configuration (a
common situation), Timbuktu supports system location via Skype locator
services.
Skype to the Rescue?
The popular
(and free) Skype
internet call software uses it's own locator engine and can traverse
firewalls with no special configuration. As long as Skype services are
permitted on your network, this provides an option for finding Timbuktu
systems located behind dynamic IP addresses.
You must
install Skype v2.5 or higher on both the local and remote Macs and setup
a different Skype account on each. You can use an existing Skype account
on one of the computers if you already have one. Once the account is
created, launch Timbuktu on both computers and go to it's little "double
Mac" menu at the top right hand side of the Mac menu bar. Select
the option for "Timbuktu Access via Skype". You should then
see Skype accounts listed in your Timbuktu Connection window.
On paper
this sounds great; in practice I had mixed results. Under the best of
conditions the remote system was more sluggish via Skype than with direct
IP connections. At worst, the connection was unusable - crippling slow
response, screen redraws freezing and dropped connections. Performance
seemed to vary with Skype traffic, time of day and bandwidth available.
Eventually I found this combination too unreliable to use for business
purposes, and now only use Timbuktu with remote systems over LANs, VPNs
or with direct IP connections.
Reboot, I Command Thee
The
ability to reboot your remote Mac can be critical, especially when nobody
is around and the screen sharing software crashes (trust me, it happens).
As an advanced fallback, turn on Remote Login (SSH) service on the remote
computer (with a strong admin password), and make sure you have a way
to access it (forward port 22 on routers and firewalls). In a worst-case
scenario you can use the Terminal application to force a reboot the
remote machine.
You
must login to an administrator account on the remote Mac. Assume here
your remote Mac has an account named remoteuser at address 10.20.30.40:
LocalMac:~ localuser$ ssh -l remoteuser 10.20.30.40
-answer "yes" when asked do you wish to
continue connection
-enter the password for remoteuser; the remote Mac's
prompt appears
RemoteMac:~ remoteuser$ sudo reboot
-you are warned not to abuse the superuser privileges
-enter the remote admin account password
-your SSH session will be disconnected and the remote
Mac will reboot
LocalMac:~ localuser$ Connection to 10.20.30.40 closed.
-wait a minute or two, then try accessing the
remote control software again.
Adam Rosen
